A platform coupled to a lifting device on the transom of a boat can be used as a swimming platform, which is lowered into or close to the water line during use, or for lifting small crafts, such as a personal watercraft or a dinghy, into and out of the water. Such apparatus provide convenience to users that desire a swimming platform that can be lowered into the water for use when the boat is anchored or docked and that can be retracted out of the water when the boat is moving or in operation. Such devices are further convenient because they allow users to secure a small watercraft onto the platform, to extend the platform into the water for use of the small watercraft and then to retract the platform out of the water when use of the small watercraft is complete. Various conventional lifting devices with platforms for boat transoms are available. But conventional devices of this type are not without their drawbacks.
Conventional lifting devices with platforms for boat transoms normally only provide lift in the upwards or downwards directions. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,878,450 and 5,544,606 are examples of such conventional lifting devices with platforms. Though these devices may satisfy the desire of users to lift a platform into and out of the water, they do not satisfy the desire of users to move a platform in other directions. Therefore, having only two degrees of freedom limits the versatility of conventional lifting devices with platforms.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for a lifting device with a platform for a boat transom that provides additional degrees of freedom in its movement.